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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

My Big Red just became better

Many of my scrapbooking friends know how much I looooovvvveeee my 3M Adhesive Transfer Gun aka Advanced Tape Glider (ATG) which I nicknamed Big Red. One thing that bugs me is how sometimes the tape slips off the roller. I read a tip to put a cardboard "shim" over the spool. Well, I like to see how much tape I have left in case I need to pack an extra when I scrap away from home. So ...

With 2 plastic items, I have modified Big Red to be a better and meaner tape dispenser!

First item is the leftover core from the tape. Next, a thick piece of clear plastic - mine was from a recycled report cover, but a flat portion of packaging plastic would work too. I trimmed it roughly into a circle slightly larger than the spool holder and made a hole in the centre the size of the core.

Don't mind the sticky gunk still left on the core, it helps to keep everything in place.

Just fit the clear plastic over the tape spool and pop the core on top. It will click slightly.

Another thing to do often is to clear the take-up spool so that everything rolls smoothly.

I mean, rip off that paper tape, leaving a short 4-6" tail like below:

Then reattach the free end on the take-up spool. I put a bit of adhesive (yeah, some of the sticky gunk will do) and start rolling away.